The Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, its volunteer advisory board, recognize that the cultural vitality of any community begins with the contributions of the individual artist. As such, a key objective of the Department and the Council is to contribute to creating an environment that is supportive of and inspiring to artists. To accomplish this, the Department provides assistance to artists in three critical ways: through financial support; via technical assistance; and by developing resources and opportunities to present the artist's work to the public.

The Department directly serves artists, as well as cultural organizations, through a series of competitive grants programs. Each of these programs is designed to address direct assistance to artists and organizations in a variety of disciplines. Each of the Department's grants programs for artists involves a review process with a peer panel evaluating grant applications.

All potential applicants are encouraged to attend workshops that are designed to "de-mystify" the application process. Grant program guidelines and application forms are available on this site, or can be made available to applicants via e-mail or on an IBM-format computer diskette. Applicants must make arrangements with grants program administrators and supply their own diskette(s). Please note that application formats may not be altered or manipulated in any way.